JERUSALEM — Israel’s Sephardi chief rabbi ruled that it is permitted to smoke cigarettes that are not certified as kosher for Passover during the holiday. Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef said in a satellite television broadcast that cigarettes do not need to be certified as leaven-free for Passover, though some cigarettes manufactured in Israel or abroad…

A special electoral assembly on Wednesday elected Sephardi Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef and Ashkenazi Rabbi David Lau as Israel’s next chief rabbis, after weeks of a controversial and tense candidacy period. The two chief rabbis will hold office for the next decade.